Question: Who Is Our SECOND Best Player?

[cohenzone]

What does a naming of a 2nd best player on a message board have to do with anything concerning a real game situation? Bueckers was quiet points wise against Tennessee but Williams and Westbrook filled the scoring void, that’s what a good TEAM does. Basketball Is a team game and the ranking of players on a team is meaningless to me; others may disagree, differences of opinion are a good thing.

You miss the point.

 

[Skeets]

No clear choice. It can vary from game to game. Maybe that isn't a bad thing.

Actually, having 3 or 4 players tied (more or less) for "second best" could be a good thing.

 

[oldhusky]

The fact that we don't yet have an obvious second true star is a weak point. The fact that we have so many players that are part of the discussion for second best is a strong point.

Maybe there are more teams that have a better number 2 player than we do, but if you keep going comparing team's third, fourth, fifth best players etc. we look pretty good, and of course we have Paige and they don't.

 

[Waquoit]

But no one except maybe Aaliyah (and Autumn ) is really consistent enough.

Yet!

 

[RedStickHusky]

I was watching some old tourney games ('03/04/10) over this break and I saw an interview with a player (Swin, I think) saying "Coach wants to convince us through February that we are the worst team in the country but when March gets here he has us feeling invincible". Geno's old tricks seem to still work on boneyarders, I've got a feeling they'll work on his team too. I mean it comes down now to two games against top 10 opponents. I like our chances as well as anyone's.

 

[Waquoit]

Geno's old tricks seem to still work on boneyarders, I've got a feeling they'll work on his team too.

What trick? They are being carried by a freshman right now. And Geno foresaw that from the start, that's why he didn't do the "break 'em down to build 'em" routine with Paige. She didn't need it so he didn't bother, it's been all "build her up" because he knows she's her own worst critic. Every team is different.

 

[Jingo]

Williams is the second best player on the team! She has been struggling lately and has had consistency issues, but she will be a huge part to UConn's success in the tournament. Williams struggled during the middle part of last season as well, only to regain her confidence and play some of her best basketball down the stretch. I think the Georgetown game was the start of the turnaround for Williams and expect her to be a vital part of the Huskies come tournament time. Coach Auriemma is a master of a lot of different aspects in coaching, but one in which he excels the most is by instilling confidence and having his teams peak at the right time. Make no mistake, Williams is going to have a damn good remainder to the year, and some of you who have written her off are going to have a buffet of crow to munch on!

CW has had enough chances this season and hasn't delivered .. it's time for someone else to get a shot [no pun intended] Let's give some of our other high school All-American(s) a chance to deliver, eh?

 

[NormanDale]

CW has had enough chances this season and hasn't delivered .. it's time for someone else to get a shot [no pun intended] Let's give some of our other high school All-American(s) a chance to deliver, eh?

Who is it that you don't think has had a chance?

 

[Jingo]

Who is it that you don't think has had a chance?

I would give most of CW's minutes to Aaliyah and start Aaliyah over CW. With ONO & AE in the game together, running the high-low, we should be able to get a lot more scoring from our inside game. Giving more minutes to Aubrey and Mir should also provide more inside scoring, a big improvement - in terms of FG% - over CW's ill-advised long-range bombs!
Finally, I would give as many of CW's minutes as possible to Saylor as our next shooting guard. Saylor has greater upside than CW in terms of 3-point shooting [quick release, greater range], rebounding and [supposed] defense, eh?

 

[Urshurak]

I think UConn’s second best player revolves from
game to game. CW, Liv, EW, etc.

 

[Magy Cannon]

CW is the 2nd best player. Paige is the best.

 

[MilfordHusky]

Second best player seems to vary by game. In terms of overall ability, it's probably Christyn. But there have been multiple games when Liv looked like the second best and some others when Evina looked like the second best. There are moments when Aubrey or Aaliyah looked like the second best. There is no question who is the best player. I asked myself in the summer if Paige could be the best player on the team on Day 1. I wasn't sure, but thought it was a distinct possibility. Now I think she's the best player in the country.

 

[Jingo]

CW is the 2nd best player. Paige is the best.

No, on this team, CW has shown herself to be no higher than 4th best, eh?

 

[chrissaran]

Each game it's a different player, which has its positives and negatives. There's not a go to person after Paige. However, you have many players contributing to the success of the team.

 

[NormanDale]

I would give most of CW's minutes to Aaliyah and start Aaliyah over CW. With ONO & AE in the game together, running the high-low, we should be able to get a lot more scoring from our inside game. Giving more minutes to Aubrey and Mir should also provide more inside scoring, a big improvement - in terms of FG% - over CW's ill-advised long-range bombs!
Finally, I would give as many of CW's minutes as possible to Saylor as our next shooting guard. Saylor has greater upside than CW in terms of 3-point shooting [quick release, greater range], rebounding and [supposed] defense, eh?

So your plan for replacing the second leading scorer is to replace her with a kid that has been on campus for less than a month and is shooting 14%? Seems logical.

 

[Jingo]

So your plan for replacing the second leading scorer is to replace her with a kid that has been on campus for less than a month and is shooting 14%? Seems logical.

Well at least Saylor hits iron, CW hits mostly air, eh?

 

[j66kicker]

No, on this team, CW has shown herself to be no higher than 4th best, eh?

Hope she reads this and goes off for 40 tonight

 

[Jingo]

Hope she reads this and goes off for 40 tonight

I hope she [CW] doesn't get the minutes to do that .. I hope somebody who is reliable and consistent gets those minutes AND shots, eh?
Actually, I'd like to see Liv drop 30+ vs St Johns.. or else AE or else Saylor et al ...

 

[FridaFriend]

Geno, once again, has taken action based on his reading of a Boneyard thread. He has decided to be the #2 player himself, as described in the 'newest UCONN player' thread.

 

[Magy Cannon]

No, on this team, CW has shown herself to be no higher than 4th best, eh?

CW is the 2nd best player. Paige is the best. AE is gaining!

 

[veryolddog]

I do not think that there is one single person who is the second best player on this team. I think that the second best player is the desire to win and compete to win by a group of young people who have worked to taste the victory of championship and excellence. I would point to the coaching staff especially Jamelle who provide the sense of urgency, toughness, determination, and desire to thrust themselves into the fray and compete to win. They are now in the situation where if they lose, they go home. They want to go home by winning it all.

 

[CL82]

I do not think that there is one single person who is the second best player on this team. I think that the second best player is the desire to win and compete to win by a group of young people who have worked to taste the victory of championship and excellence. I would point to the coaching staff especially Jamelle who provide the sense of urgency, toughness, determination, and desire to thrust themselves into the fray and compete to win. They are now in the situation where if they lose, they go home. They want to go home by winning it all.

To tell you the truth, I’m not even a fan of dubbing Paige as our best player though it is an easy thing to do. Last night Christyn was our best player on both ends of the floor. Even with that Evina was phenomenal and Edwards was very very good. It’s a normal tendency to rank things, but with this team in particular, we’ve ended up with a very talented group anyone of whom is capable of dominating on any given night.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Kinda glad this thread got bumped. I wonder if crow is on anyone's menu... Two takeaways: 1) trust the process - what you see in mid-Feb is not what you get in late March. and 2) when you have 7 or 8 players in the rotation and they are all pulling their respective oars, 2nd best is a silly question... it's whoever the other guys can't match up with on any given night.

 

[RedStickHusky]

To tell you the truth, I’m not even a fan of doubling Paige as our best player though it is an easy thing to do. Last night Christyn was our best player on both ends of the floor. Even with that Evina was phenomenal and Edwards was very very good. It’s a normal tendency to rank things, but with this team in particular, we’ve ended up with a very talented group anyone of whom is capable of dominating on any given night.

nice cl82... you hit post as I was typing but I think we said just about the same thing....

 

[Littlemin]

To tell you the truth, I’m not even a fan of doubling Paige as our best player though it is an easy thing to do. Last night Christyn was our best player on both ends of the floor. Even with that Evina was phenomenal and Edwards was very very good. It’s a normal tendency to rank things, but with this team in particular, we’ve ended up with a very talented group anyone of whom is capable of dominating on any given night.

I could not agree more, as great as UConn’s individual talent is, the sum is greater than the parts right now, they are playing that in sync as a collective. As great as the guards played against Iowa, and the game Edwards had, I really admire the change in Ono’s focus the last two games, she needs to play BIG and she has, focusing big time on rebounding.